This walk-off was well worth the wait for Sox
Have the White Sox finally turned the corner?
The general consensus is still likely leaning way to the "no" side, but they did offer a few hints in Thursday's rain-delayed game against the Tigers at U.S. Field.
Backed by another solid effort from starting pitcher Gavin Floyd, the Sox were well on their way to closing out a disappointing homestand on an upbeat note.
Holding a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning, White Sox closer Bobby Jenks blew a chance to pick up his 14th save when Detroit's Curtis Granderson hit a 2-run homer with two outs.
"Everybody could have just gone down and said, 'There we go again,''' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "But everybody went back to the dugout and was rooting and cheering for each other. I think that's nice to see."
Tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Sox finally played some small ball. And they finally won a walk-off game - for the first time since Aug. 24 of last season.
"Had we lost that game, it would have been tough," center fielder Brian Anderson said after the White Sox pulled out a 4-3 win. "Getting that win is huge. It kind of makes things a little bit better. I think we're all pretty pumped up right now."
Having lost 8 of their first 11 on the season's longest homestand, the Sox had to wait out a rain delay that ran nearly 3 hours before getting their fifth crack at the Tigers in the marathon series.
Floyd was working on a shutout until the eighth inning, when Ramon Santiago hit a home run.
A.J. Pierzynski answered with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-1, but Jenks couldn't close it out.
Faced with another crushing loss, the White Sox did show life in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Anderson led off with a single against Joel Zumaya and Chris Getz dropped down a perfect sacrifice. An error by Zumaya on the play left Anderson on third base and Getz on first before Josh Fields walked to load the bases.
Scott Podsednik singled to right field through Detroit's pulled-in infield to end it.
"It's nice when you do win games like this," said designated hitter Jim Thome, who put the Sox in front with a solo home run in the second inning. "We have guys who can hit the ball out of the park. We have won a lot of games on the home run, but it sure is nice when you can do what we did today. Bunt, get a big hit to start the inning off, and kind of manufacture runs that way from the seventh inning on. That's when it really is big. We'll take this and run with it."
The Sox were 4-8 on the homestand, but they are still within striking distance (51/2 games) of the Tigers.
"Really bad," Guillen said. "We're not playing well. We had a really tough times scoring runs, I don't know why. I had the feeling when we came from Kansas City, but hopefully we continue to play pretty good baseball on the road and come back here and play better."
Scot Gregor's game tracker
White Sox 4, Tigers 3
Thursday's grade: B+. Bobby Jenks couldn't close out the Detroit in the ninth inning, but the Sox' offense picked him up.
Long time coming: The White Sox posted their first 1-run victory since May 9, against Texas.
Fantastic Floyd: Gavin Floyd has a 1.67 ERA over his last 5 starts.
Fantastic Fields: Josh Fields made his first career start at first base and matched his career high with 3 walks.
White Sox vs. Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park
TV: Channel 26 today; FOX Saturday; Comcast SportsNet Sunday
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Pitching matchups: The Sox' Clayton Richard (2-1) vs. Jeff Suppan (4-4) today at 7:05 p.m.; Jose Contreras (1-5) vs. Manny Parra (3-7) Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Mark Buehrle (6-2) vs. Braden Looper (5-3) Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
At a glance: After a miserable homestand, the White Sox hit the road for three straight interleague series (Milwaukee, Cubs, Cincinnati). The Brewers lead the NL Central, but they were swept by the Rockies in a three-game home series and have lost four straight. This is the first meeting between the White Sox and Brewers since 2001, when the Sox swept a three-game series at Miller Park.
Next: Cubs, Tuesday-Thursday at Wrigley Field
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=300058">Guillen says he won't rush Konerko back into lineup<span class="date"> [6/11/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>